When a group of Iraqi envoys headed to Iran recently, they were fully prepared for some tense moments. But they also hoped to come away with something to show for it: pledges of cooperation on weakening Shiite militias in Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria's foreign minister Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years, hours after the chief military spokesman in Iraq said Syria had moved to reduce "the flow of foreign fighters" across its border.

A newly released report published by the CIA rebukes the Bush administration for not paying enough attention to prewar intelligence that predicted the factional rivalries now threatening to split Iraq.